Group LeadGroup Lead

Lead: Professor Alastair Watson

activities and ethosactivities and ethos

Gastroenterology research focuses on intestinal and liver inflammation and the interaction of the gut microbiome, intestinal epithelial and liver cells and mucosal immune system. There is also a strong interest in clinical studies addressing the pathogenesis and treatment of oesophageal and pancreatic cancer, of sclerosing cholangitis, and of intestinal failure. Studies range from disease models and in vitro interventions to clinical trials and large-scale epidemiological studies.

Gastroenterology has close links with the BBSRC-funded Quadram Institute Bioscience, the Earlham Institute and the EPIC (The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) prospective study. Clinical staff have joint appointments with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital which facilitates patient recruitment and encourages productive interactions with gastrointestinal surgeons and other clinical teams. There are also numerous collaborative projects involving other researchers within the Medical School and more widely in UEA.

We have a solid reputation for acquisition of research grants and the training and supervision of postgraduate research students. The Group’s research appears in the discipline’s top-ranking journals, and important contributions are regularly made to national and international guidelines.

We have links with other universities and research institutes including:

Queen Mary, University of London

The Sanger Institute, Cambridge

University of Cambridge

Rutgers University, USA

University of Erlangen, Germany

University of Bologna, Italy

University of Tartu, Estonia

We have senior representation within professional bodies including the British Society of Gastroenterology, Royal College of Physicians, the British Association for Clinical Nutrition (BAPEN) and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), the Pancreatic Society and the British Association of Study of the Liver.

We also have an active set of commercial collaborations undertaking clinical trials of new drugs for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Liver Disease